Friday, July 07, 2006

Save Malak Ghorbany

On or about June 29, 2006, a court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia sentenced Malak Ghorbany, an Iranian woman, to death by public stoning after finding her guilty of the crime of "adultery." Under Iran's Penal Code, the term "adultery" is used to describe any intimate or sexual act between a man and a girl or a woman outside of marriage. The crime of adultery is also used in cases where a girl is deemed to have committed "acts incompatible with chastity," which includes instances of rape. In Iran, the punishment for "adultery" is death. In Ms. Ghorbany's case, the particular method of execution mandated -- death by stoning -- is one of the most inhumane and gruesome acts of torture and violence.

On the day of her punishment, the Ms. Ghorbany's hands will be tied behind her back as she becomes covered from head to toe in winding sheets and is placed seated in a pit. The pit is then filled up to her chest with dirt and the dirt is tamped down. At that point, members of the community are invited to murder her by hurling rocks at her. To ensure that the person condemned to stoning receives the absolute maximum amount of pain and torture, the Iranian government has even mandated the size of the stones that are to be used in this barbaric act of public execution. By law, no stone should be thrown that would kill Ms. Ghorbany with the first or second blow, or so small as a pebble to do no injury to her body.